Higgs hands 'tricky' bilingualism decisions to newly created secretariat

Premier Blaine Higgs has kicked the bilingualism issue down the road, announcing that a new secretariat within the provincial government will now tackle some of the thorniest recommendations about the Official Languages Act.

The premier's long-awaited and long-delayed response to a year-old report consisted of the creation of what he called "a mechanism to address issues from both linguistic groups."

There was no clear decision on issues such as bilingual hiring standards for government jobs or the future of the commissioner of official languages.

"We're not proposing that here," Higgs said of the idea advanced by one of his cabinet ministers to eliminate the commissioner's office.

Higgs said the new entity would be a venue to address language issues as a "united front."

"The secretariat provides an opportunity to do that in a collective, co-operative way, a non-threatening way, outside of the absolute of 'whether you did this recommendation, or you didn't do that recommendation.'"

Earlier Monday, Official Languages Commissioner Shirley MacLean lamented that the long delay in the premier's response had created anxiety in the province. 

"There's a lot of uncertainty that's circulating in recent months," she said at the release of her annual report before the premier's news conference.

She said she'd been "disappointed with the government's silence on this matter" and that "the delays and the apparent disinterest of the government in this matter constitute a step backward for language rights.

"Uncertainty sometimes breeds fear. And with our official language minority, I certainly think there's a sense of fear out there as to what's coming." 

Higgs's announcement did little to end that uncertainty.

He said the future of MacLean's office would be examined as part of an all-party review of the mandates of the various independent watchdogs, such as the commissioner, the ombud and the auditor general, that report to the legislature.

Promotional role

At least one Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, Kris Austin, says the ombud could take over the commissioner's role in investigating complaints about inadequate bilingual service.

Higgs said the secretariat would have a promotional role, one that MacLean's office also has. He was vague on whether the commissioner would also continue to promote bilingualism, saying that would be up to the mandate review.

An independent review of the Official Languages Act is required by the act itself to take place every 10 years.

The report released last year recommended a review of the commissioner's mandate, "all necessary measures" to let government employees work in their choice of English or French and an explicit extension of the act's reach to cover nursing homes. 

Higgs suggested the secretariat could weigh in on some of those issues, as well as on the process of deciding which government jobs should require bilingualism.

MacLean issued a statement after the premier's news conference calling his announcement vague, though she applauded the creation of the secretariat.

"I must admit that I am left wanting more information about the government's other intentions regarding official languages in New Brunswick."

Pathway 'to eliminating the commissioner?'

Liberal MLA Benoît Bourque said because the secretariat comes under the premier's authority, and is not independent like the commissioner, "he is setting it up to be a lot more political."

"This comes up very, very short," Bourque said, calling the creation of the secretariat "a pathway" to eliminating the commissioner in the future.

Green Party Leader David Coon said Higgs was "thumbing his nose" at the independent review. 

Acadian Society of New Brunswick president Alexandre Cédric Doucet said in a statement that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"I'm stunned that after a year's wait, Premier Higgs dared to respond today without tackling any of the recommendations," he said.

The premier complained several times during the announcement that he was unfairly seen to be hostile to, or sceptical of bilingualism because he's a unilingual anglophone.

"It's not based on a reality, it's based on the fact that I don't speak both official languages," he said. "And I don't want other people to go through that. I'm trying desperately to find a way that no one has to experience what I've experienced in the province that I love."

He also said he knows "more so than anyone" how tricky it is to juggle competing interests when dealing with language issues. 

"I'm hoping we've struck a  balance here for francophones to recognize, 'okay, they didn't really take away anything, we've got a group here dedicated to address real issues,' and the anglophones who say, 'all right, someone's going to listen to us too.'"

The premier also wouldn't commit to maintaining the requirement in the act for a review every 10 years, saying with the secretariat "we now have someone doing this every day." 

The government will introduce amendments to the Official Languages Act in the spring to create the secretariat, but Higgs wouldn't say if that bill would also eliminate the mandatory 10-year review.